The Story of Us

by Rebecca Harner

  She grabbed my hand and pulled me into a corner of her room. “This is my favorite horse,” she said. It was huge. It was big enough that she could climb on top of it and sit on it.

  “What’s her name?” I asked her.

  “I haven’t named her yet. She needs to be perfect.” She was brushing the horse’s hair when she turned around with a huge smile on her face.

  “No. Violet. That’s her name! I wanted her name to be perfect and you’re perfect.” She gave me a hug.

  “Aww, Sky. Thank you so much, but I’m not perfect. You are, sweetie.”

  She pulled away. “No, I want to be just like you when I’m older. You’re very pretty and sweet. None of Nash’s or Hayes’s friends play with me.” She ran over and grabbed a card. “Can you write Violet on her name card?”

  I did and she tied it around the horse’s neck. I was about to say something when Nash walked in.

  “Nash! I finally named my horse.” She ran up to him and he picked her up. “Did you name her Weave like I suggested?” We laughed.

  “She showed me the horses you named. Waterbugs is my favorite,” I said. He started to laugh a little bit.

  “No . . . I named her Violet because Violet is perfect and I wanted my horse to be perfect, too.” He smiled and she wrapped her arms around him.

  “I think that is wonderful, Sky. Now—how is my Nashty doing today?” He picked up his horse and started playing with Skylynn. He was such a sweet brother. My brother never played with me when I was younger.

  I sat down and played with them for a couple of more minutes before my phone rang. “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hey. It’s Hayden. Mom and Dad are going to be here in a couple of minutes. Can you come home?” he asked.

  “Sure. Give me a minute.” I hung up and bent down to pick up Skylynn.

  “I have to go, sweetie.” She looked at me with sad eyes.

  “No . . . I don’t want you to go.” She wrapped her arms around me and lay her head on my shoulder.

  “I have to go see my mommy and daddy. Nash will play with you, okay?” Her eyes perked up when I said his name. She really loved him, that girl.

  “Okay. I love you, Violet.”

  “I love you too, Sky.” I gave her another hug and kissed her on the head.

  “I’ll be right back, Sky,” Nash said. He pulled me out of the room and gave me another hug. Then he leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Nash,” I said, picking up my bag and putting my shoes on. I walked out the door.

  “Love ya,” he called. I turned around and smiled at him.

  “Love you too, Nashty.” He smiled at me before closing the door.

  I ran across the street and into my house. A huge smile was planted on my face. Hayden was running around frantically. “Finally. I’ve been cleaning the whole house while you’ve been making out with your boyfriend.” He was wiping the coffee table down and fixing the pillows on the couch.

  “Whoa. We were not making out. Calm down.” I turned to run upstairs but stopped myself. “Wait. How did you know we were dating?”

  He looked at me like I was an idiot. “When was the last time you checked your Twitter?” he asked.

  “Umm . . . like this morning. Why?” I asked him.

  “Look at Nash’s recent tweets.” He ran back upstairs to vacuum his room. I grabbed my phone and quickly went to his page. I smiled.

  @NashGrier:

  I miss her already. Love you @LovelyViolet.

  @NashGrier:

  Please stop hating on her. If you actually knew her, you would realize that she is not at all what you claim her to be.

  He was so sweet. I retweeted all his posts and tweeted him.

  @LovelyViolet:

  @NashGrier Thank you Nashty! :)

  Instantly I got hundreds of retweets and favorites.

  I checked and instead of seeing 236 followers, I saw 46,705. My mouth dropped. Holy shit. He wasn’t lying when he said that he could make me popular.

  Some people were tweeting me hate, but there were also girls who said we were cute together. I would favorite those tweets and they’d get all excited and tweet me again. I followed a couple of girls, which made them even happier. My phone vibrated and I saw a message from my best friend back home. I hadn’t talked to her in a few days. We had a lot to catch up on.

  Stephie: OMG!!! You and Nash Grier are dating! THE Nash Grier. You have thousands of followers on Twitter. Girl you are famous!!

  Violet_Boo: Yes we are. He is amazing and I love him so much. How’s home?

  Stephie: It’s not the same. But you have been what everyone’s talking about. They can’t believe you and Nash are dating.

  Violet_Boo: Oh wow. Word travels fast. It feels like a dream.

  Stephie: Yes. It does. Damn I wish I could date someone famous.

  Violet_Boo: Well when I met him I didn’t even know who he was. I had no clue he was famous on Vine. So I was able to get to know him personally. I fell in love with him and his personality, not because he is famous.

  Stephie: How could you not have known he was famous? And that’s deep. Sounds like true love to me.

  Violet_Boo: I know. Stupid me. Hey, I’ll text later, my parents are coming home soon. Miss you.

  I missed Steph. She was the best friend I’d ever had. We had so much in common and we got along so well. Our parents called us long-lost sisters. We eventually believed that it was true. She was there with me for everything.

  “We’re home!” I heard my parents yell as they opened the door.

  “Hey, guys!” I yelled, running downstairs and giving them huge hugs.

  “Oh my gosh, honey. Your face!” my mom screamed.

  “Oh, that.” I looked to Hayden to give an explanation.

  “I accidentally hit her with the remote. I meant to toss it to her but it smacked her in the face,” Hayden explained.

  “Hayden.” My mom gave him one of those disappointed looks, then turned back to me. “So, any news?” she asked.

  “Violet has a boyfriend.” I glared at Hayden as he smirked at me.

  “Who?” my dad asked. He sounded mad.

  “Umm . . . Nash Grier. We have become really good friends. Oh, that reminds me. His mom wants to invite us over for dinner one night this week.” I tried to quickly change the subject.

  “Oh! Tell her we would love to. Just pick a day and we’ll be there.” My mom sounded excited.

  “So, this Nash boy. Is he good to you?” My dad was like my brother, very overprotective of me.

  “He is a really great guy. You’ll love him.”

  He looked a little relieved. “Well, we will have to see. Now, who’s hungry for Chinese?” he asked.

  We all hopped in the car. I missed these moments. Being together as a family. Ever since these new jobs and all the fighting, we barely got to do these things.

  Violet-Boo: Hey Nashty. I saw your tweets. :)

  Nashty: I know. Did your notifications blow up?

  Violet-Boo: You weren’t lying when you said you could make me popular. I’m not used to hundreds of people retweeting and favoriting my tweets.

  @NashGrier:

  Violet isn’t used to all this fame. Why don’t you go blow up her notifications?

  Instantly, my phone started freaking out and wouldn’t stop going off.

  Nashty: :)

  Violet-Boo: Nash Grier! Oh my goodness I will get you back. Mark my words!

  “Violet! What is wrong with your phone?” Hayden asked. I showed him the tweet and he started laughing.

  “Shut up. It’s not funny.” I hit him with the menu and he acted offended. I rolled my eyes at him.

  Nashty: Love youuu!!! P.S. You have more than 100,000 followers now.

  I tweeted, “O
ne day I’m an unknown girl dating Nash. The next, I’m Violet, the girl dating Nash.”

  I fixed my settings and my phone finally calmed down. I would favorite as many tweets as I could, but there were so many. I had over 120,000 followers on Twitter, 80,000 on Instagram, and 40,000 on Vine.

  I showed Hayden and his eyes grew huge. “You should give me a shout-out. I am looking for some ladies.”

  I laughed at him and rolled my eyes. “Not yet.”

  Violet

  The rest of the week was just normal, regular school days. All of the drama and tension finally calmed down. Nobody stared at me as I walked down the halls. Well, people still stared if Nash showed me any affection. A simple hug and I would get glares from all of the girls. The only girl who was happy for me and Nash was Annabelle, but even she seemed a little frustrated about the topic.

  I was finally relieved when the week was over and Nash drove me home.

  “I’ll see you tonight, then.” I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He started blushing, which made me blush. Damn, he is just so cute.

  “I’ll see you at five, babe. Love you!” he said as I jumped out of the car. “Love you too, Nashty.” I blew him a kiss and walked back into my house.

  Tonight was going to be a little stressful. My parents were finally meeting Nash and his family. I was beyond nervous. I threw my backpack in my closet and scanned for a cute dress to wear. Hmmm . . . I had to think. Not too short, not too fancy, just a casual dress, that was all I needed. I finally picked out a strapless coral dress that went a little above my knee. I grabbed a cardigan to wear with it because I didn’t want to be too revealing. I finished off the outfit with simple leather flats. Perfect.

  It was already three so I decided to just get in the shower and finish getting ready. After I dried off, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I needed the freshest breath possible.

  I start with my makeup first. Since it was a special night, I wanted to use a little more makeup, but not too much. I put concealer under my eyes and on a few blemishes. I then covered my face with a light coverage of BB Cream to even out the color. I took my Naked2 eye palette and gave myself a light smoky-eye look. I then put winged eyeliner on the top and made my eyelashes extra long and full. I finally completed the look with some EOS lip balm, since my lips were pink enough and didn’t need any more color.

  My hair was already dry, so all I needed to do was straighten it. I decided to take the time and waterfall-braid my hair. I then curled my ends a little bit to give them a slight wave.

  I put on my dress, cardigan, and shoes and applied some fresh deodorant. Didn’t want to be smelly, now, did we? I sprayed on some Vera Wang Princess perfume and looked in the mirror.

  This called for a selfie. I looked good. I took like twenty selfies and uploaded a few on Twitter and Instagram. Within seconds I received likes and favorites that never seemed to end. I could never get used to all this attention.

  For once I wasn’t the last person getting ready. I went downstairs to watch TV while I waited for my parents to come down.

  “Well, don’t you look good,” I joked with Hayden as he walked downstairs. He didn’t like to dress up in nice clothes. He usually wore Nike shorts and a regular T-shirt. Tonight, though, he wore khaki shorts with a nice striped shirt.

  “It’s not too fancy?” He was walking up and down the hallway and was strutting his stuff like he was on the runway.

  “Oh, please stop!” I started to laugh really hard but he wouldn’t stop. He turned on some music and started moving his arms and flipping his hair like he was a model. I quickly grabbed my phone and Vined him from different angles while he wasn’t looking.

  “What are you doing?” He stopped the music and ran after me.

  Ninety-eight percent downloaded . . . C’mon . . . There. “Just posted a video on Vine.” I gave him a devious smile and he reached for my phone. I quickly jumped out of the way and locked myself in our bathroom.

  “Look, Hayden! Already two hundred likes and a hundred and twenty-five re-Vines. You’re famous, boy!” I shouted through the door.

  “I’ll get you back! You just wait.” He stomped off and went to his room.

  Opening the door quietly, I checked to make sure the hallway was clear and then I stepped out.

  After about ten more minutes of waiting, my parents finally came down with Hayden. We walked across the road to the Griers’ house.

  Will opened the door and welcomed us in. I saw Mrs. Grier come running out of the kitchen and over to us. Nash, Hayes, and Skylynn came down from upstairs as well.

  Nash gave me a quick hug and introduced himself to my dad and then my mom. Skylynn ran into my arms; I picked her up and she gave me a big hug. Mrs. Grier then introduced everyone else to each other.

  “Why don’t the kids go downstairs into the rec room while I finish up dinner?” Mrs. Grier suggested. We all agreed and headed down to the basement.

  I’d never been down there before. There was a huge flat-screen TV with an Xbox and a Wii. There was a full-size pool table, an air hockey table, and a Ping-Pong table. Wow, they had everything.

  “Hey, Violet, do you want to play Call of Duty since you think you’re so good at it?” Hayes said jokingly.

  “Oh, you’re on, Hayes.” He tossed me a controller and I sat down next to him on the couch.

  Nash, Will, Hayes, and I were playing while Hayden sat on the couch watching us. I felt bad that he was left out, so I tossed him my controller.

  “Here. Show them how it’s done.” He smiled at me and picked up where I left off.

  I walked over to where Skylynn was and sat down next to her on the floor. She was brushing her Barbie’s hair. “Violet!” She jumped on me and gave me another big hug.

  “How’s my best friend?” I asked her.

  “Good. Violet misses you.” She looked up at me with a sad look.

  “Well, then let’s go see her!” She jumped up with a big smile on her face. She grabbed my hand and led me back upstairs.

  “Oh, hi, honey. Do you need anything?” my mom asked as we passed the kitchen.

  “No. The boys are playing Call of Duty, and Skylynn wanted to show me something,” I responded.

  “Well, dinner is going to be ready in five minutes, so come back down when you’re done,” Mrs. Grier said with a smile. I smiled back at her and nodded as Skylynn dragged me up the steps.

  Skylynn jumped on her bed and was staring at me. “Are you and Nash going to get married?” she asked.

  I laughed a little bit. “Oh, honey, I don’t know. That won’t happen for a long time and a lot could happen over the years.”

  Her face looked a little sad and confused. “But, you like each other. I see the way he looks at you. He talks about you all the time and is saying how you’re so pretty and smart.”

  I smiled and looked down. “Well, that’s very sweet of him,” I said.

  Someone cleared his throat behind us. Skylynn and I turned around to see Nash. His face was red and he was smiling a little bit. “Umm . . . dinner is ready. You guys should come down.”

  I looked at Skylynn and she started giggling. “Way to go!” I joked around with her.

  When we arrived downstairs, there were only two empty seats left. One had a booster seat in it, so that was where Skylynn would be sitting. I took the last seat, which was in between Nash and Hayden. Skylynn, Will, and Hayes sat across from us while our parents sat at the ends.

  Mrs. Grier had made homemade lasagna, which was delicious. The parents mostly talked throughout the whole dinner. Everything was fine until my dad had to bring up me and Nash.

  “So Nash, I’ve heard that you and Violet are dating.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and looked straight at Nash.

  “Uh . . . yes, sir. We are.” Nash was nervous, but he was acting like such a sweet gentleman
. “I would’ve liked to introduce myself to you guys sooner, but I didn’t realize you were away on a business trip,” he continued.

  “Oh. Well, I stay up at the military base during the week and come home on the weekends. This past weekend, though, I had to go to a few meetings at the Pentagon,” my dad explained.

  “So you are in the military?” Nash asked.

  “Yes. I’ve been in the air force for twenty-two years.” My dad was very proud of his job, but it was very stressful for him.

  “Wow. That’s amazing. Thank you for your service.” Aww . . . Nash. I placed my hand on his thigh and he seemed to relax a little bit.

  “Well, thank you. I really appreciate that. You know, I’m really happy Violet found a nice guy to be with,” he said.

  I looked over at Nash and he had a small smile on his face. Score for him!

  “All of her other boyfriends were such disrespectful and immature dirtballs,” my dad continued.

  “Umm . . . Dad! Can we not bring up my exes?” He started to laugh and the rest of the group laughed with him.

  Before I knew it, it was time to head home. I pulled Nash to the side so we could be alone for a little bit.

  “Well, he likes you!” I told him. I gave him a hug and looked up into his eyes. Those enchanting blue eyes of his.

  He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. Then he leaned down and whispered into my ear, “You look very pretty tonight, Violet.”

  “Well, thank you, Grier. You don’t look too bad yourself.” I poked his stomach and he picked me up and carried me back to my parents.

  “She’s all ready to go,” he proclaimed as he sat me down next to my parents. Everybody laughed and said their good-byes.

  Skylynn ran up to me and gave me a big hug. I then patted Will and Hayes on the back. “Did Hayden smear you guys?” I asked.

  Hayden laughed. “Of course I did!”

  I gave Nash one more hug before I headed out the door.

  So my dad liked Nash. What a relief. This had never happened before.